


Summer

by Galadwen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Post Season 9, slightly different season finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 04:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1764705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galadwen/pseuds/Galadwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been a long and hot summer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer

**Author's Note:**

> I guess I can't stop writing destiel these days...  
> The assumption is that season 9 endend in a slightly different way: Cas and Gadreel get to the tablet in time, and Cas gets back in time to Dean. He still had the mark, though. But, as they say, love and time heal everything.

“I want to go the beach”

The words come in like a fresh breeze. Like the thunderstorms after a great heat. Or at least, they feel so to Cas. It has been a long and hot summer. They have been secluded in the bunker for months, trying to heal Dean from the mark and the constant killing hunger that comes from the Blade. And with time, patience, and lots of hunts and pies, the mark is slowly fading. Dean is still a grumpy brooding mess that says barely two words every other day and rarely goes out, if not for hunting, but still. The hunger is becoming less and less strong, and it takes more time for it to grow back after each kill.

Cas is staying with them as much as he can, to help with Dean. He is full of remorse, and keeps thinking that if only he got to Metatron first, if only he had warned Dean about the Blade.

If only he hadn’t left Dean alone with Crowley to plot.

_If only he hadn’t left Dean._

They never spoke again of what have happened months before, when Dean tried to hurt Sam, lost in the power of the Blade. They never spoke again of what Cas had said to Dean then, the words that first broke the spell.

 _‘Let me go Cas! Let me go or I swear I’m gonna kill you!’_  
‘I’m not letting you kill yourself, Dean!’  
‘Why?! I’ll only keep hurting everyone I love! Is better if I die!’  
‘Because I LOVE YOU!’

_The Blade falls from Dean’s hands._

Sometimes, Cas catches Dean looking intently at him. He have an almost longing look on his face. But he always looks away or utter a bitter joke when he realizes Cas is staring back at him. His coping mechanism. He mostly shies away from physical touch, even with Sam. But then, sometimes at night he goes looking for Cas, and just stays there beside him, wherever he is. Their bodies touching lightly in silence. And sometimes, Dean kisses Cas. In the deep dark of the night, Dean leans over and brushes his lips against Cas’s. They are dry, faint kisses. The memory of something that never happened. Sometimes, Cas thinks that maybe they aren’t even real. Dean never says anything about them. Or about anything else.

Castiel doesn’t know what to make of this behavior, and decides to just go with it, and let Dean process things they way he needs to. But even though he believes he had not right to Dean, he longs for Dean’s touch, even if just a hug. He longs for his bright soul to shine again as it used to. And he longs for other things, too: he knows that now. Things he never imagined he would want. And the realization amazes him and scares him just the same.

When Dean says he wants to go the beach, Cas can’t believe it, and the smile he gives Dean is of utter joy.

“Yes, that’s a good idea! I can zap us there”

“Nah” Dean shakes his head “I want to drive”

\----------

It’s late august. Sam is off with Charlie, back from Oz, working a case at some comic convention. Or more probably just being nerds together.

They arrive one late afternoon. The sun is setting, and the waves are dancing, crashing and running over the sand.

Dean jumps off the car and runs to the beach. His smile mirrors the sun, Cas thinks following him on the warm sand, still marveled by Dean apparently sudden transformation. Maybe they are finally free. Until the next battle.

Dean shakes his boots off and stays there, feet deep in to the wet sand, water to his ankles. He closes his eyes facing the sea, and spreads his arms, his shirt blowing in the wind like a green sail. He inhales deeply, and lets peace settle in his heart. The sun is bright, the mark is fading, he can feel it. It will be just another scar on his arm, on his soul. Life is still going on.

“You know what” he says to Cas, who is standing a few feet behind him “We should go surfin’”

Castiel is taken by surprise. Of all the things he expected Dean to say, he didn’t see that coming. _But then again, it is Dean_. He smiles fondly.

“I don’t know how to surf, Dean”

Dean chuckles, and turn around. He looks at Cas, for the first time in a long time without faltering or looking away. He smiles, warmth rippling from every inch of his skin to Cas’ body. Cas lets it wash over him, and for a moment he shivers. He looks back at Dean, and feels every tiny molecule and atom of air and golden light standing between them.

“Me neither. I guess we’ll have to learn together” and he leans over, and kisses him.

It’s not dry, it’s not faint. It isn’t a memory: it is real and beautiful and terrifying and exhilarating and everything together. It is the stars colliding and the universe expanding and contracting a million times. It is that first fish on the shore, a billion years ago, and the death of the sun, all in one perfect moment.

Castiel clings to Dean, and all he can feel is them, and the light around them.

“Hold me” Dean whispers on Cas lips. And there’s need and there’s yearning in his voice, a silent prayer in his eyes. Castiel wraps his arms protectively around Dean, his wings enclosing them like an invisible blanket.

“Till the end of time”

The light is bright and the waves are dancing, and the mark fades.

\--------

The water shines under the bright sunlight. Dean focuses, waiting for the right time to jump on the table and catch the wave. And for a second, he does, and it’s great: gliding through the water like a dolphin. But then, he loses his balance and fall miserably. When he emerges, he hears Cas laughing with exhilaration: he is surfing like he was born for it. Of course he does. _Damn angels and their superpowers_. Dean spits the water in his mouth, and swims to the shore, only to find Cas smiling a wild smile and beaming with happiness "This is amazing, Dean! I could do this forever” Dean grins “Oh, I don’t doubt it! You love to put me to shame out there” he pretends to complain, but his eyes are alight with mischief “Well, I can help you, if you want” offers Cas, still not completely sure if Dean is joking. But Dean’s grin only widens “That’s ok, I’ll have my payback” and he throws Cas on the sand, trying unsuccessfully to tickle him. They are both laughing and rolling on the sand in a mock fight—Dean has managed to find a spot that actually makes Cas giggle- when Dean catches a figure standing a few yards away from them. He freezes, then get up. Cas remains there, watching with concern as Dean moved to the stranger, a dreadful feeling raising in his stomach, angel blade ready in his hand.

It is just another surfer, who is looking intently at them. Dean approaches him with his best ‘don’t mess with me’ glare “Do you have a problem, dude?” But the surfer just smiles “Oh, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother. I saw you before, at the surf rental, and I was thinking on asking you out, but I see now you’re taken” and he winks at Dean, turning around and waving goodbye. Dean is so taken aback that he stays there, speechless, for a moment. Then he smiles and shouts back “Yes. Yes I am!” and goes back to Cas.


End file.
